What is Fly Ash?

Fly ash is a byproduct from burning pulverized coal in electric power generating plants.

Fly ash is a byproduct from burning pulverized coal in electric power generating plants. During combustion, mineral impurities in the coal (clay, feldspar, quartz, and shale) fuse in suspension and float out of the combustion chamber with the exhaust gases. As the fused material rises, it cools and solidifies into spherical glassy particles called fly ash. Fly ash is collected from the exhaust gases by electrostatic precipitators or bag filters. The fine powder does resemble portland cement but it is chemically different. Fly ash chemically reacts with the byproduct calcium hydroxide released by the chemical reaction between cement and water to form additional cementitious products that improve many desirable properties of concrete. All fly ashes exhibit cementitious properties to varying degrees depending on the chemical and physical properties of both the fly ash and cement.